


Secrets of the Forest

by moonchildthings



Series: The Secret Saga [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Escape, Experimentation, Hawkins (Stranger Things), Laboratories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24275251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonchildthings/pseuds/moonchildthings
Summary: The infamous Hawkins Lab buries many secrets in their labyrinth-like halls. One of these secrets is the stubborn, meek, troublesome Number Ten. After escaping into the world with little to no knowledge, she is picked up by the local chief and forced to live a semi-normal life. However, when things turn upside down, she is thrown back into the chaos she thought she once ran from.[Season One][First in the Secret Saga]
Series: The Secret Saga [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1752373





	Secrets of the Forest

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Welcome to the first story in my Stranger Things collection: The Secret Saga. This is actually my rewrite for a story that I wrote a few years ago... and it was pretty bad. I've been wanting to do this for a while but only found the time to work on it now. This chapter has been done for a while but I've been more focused on a few of my other writing projects to really post it or anything. So since I'm less focused on some other things, it seemed like a good time to post this! I hope it's better than the first time I tried to do it! Onto the first chapter!

**THE ICY TILED FLOOR NUMBED HER SMALL** feet to the point where she thought that she would get frostbite. Her hands shook while the rest of her body trembled in exhaustion and fear. She gambled each time she took a step. Her weak knees buckled beneath her petite frame while she took shallow breaths. Short, inky black hair swayed in front of her with each of her shaky steps.

Her throat was as scratchy as sandpaper and throbbed in pain from so much screaming. Her pale cyan eyes bounced around the hallway that was painted in shadows. The bland walls of the corridor appeared to be closing in on her which meant that the small girl's claustrophobia was starting to kick in. However, she tried to keep herself alert and sane for the moment. The only thought on her mind was getting out.

Blood caked her nostrils as tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall. She tried to keep her vision as clear as she could by wiping her eyes every once and a while. Yet more tears continued to blur her eyesight no matter what she did. She whipped her eyes one last time and continued to hobble around a corner. Once she rounded it and she could see, she froze at what she was faced with.

Two men, at least ten times her size, turned to her with expressions as hard as stone. Once their beady eyes pinpointed her standing alone in the corridor, they drew their weapons. Her body grew stiff now that she had a pair of handguns pointed at her.

The nearly identical men wearing black suits made sure to keep their attentive, yet fearful, gaze on the child. The girl maybe only is about twelve-years-old and appear to be frail, but they knew better. The men have come to learn that looks can be deceiving. Working at Hawkins Lab has proven to them that they should question any ounce of innocence they see.

The girl came to a halt and nearly fell forward from her momentum. Her wide, terrified eyes watched the two as they approached her slowly. They kept their guns drawn on her as if they were afraid she would lash out at any moment like an animal backed into a corner.

She backed away from them and almost tripped on her own feet. There was nowhere else to go. The only exit she had was now blocked. Turning back meant running back into the room that she had just escaped from while going deeper into the labs. She was trapped once again.

"Subject Ten has been located," one of the men spoke into a walkie-talkie. They approached her slowly and tried to get close enough to grab her. She didn't like the fact that they wanted to reach out to her. There have already been enough people who have touched and poked her in her short life. Enough was enough.

Seeing that there was no other option but for her to defend herself, the little girl, dubbed Subject Ten, raised a shaky hand towards the two men as her round face became ghastly pale. Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on them with every ounce of her body. She never liked doing this, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Her hands reached out with an invisible force towards the minds of the two men. She clawed at the air to gain some sort of hold on them and do what she had to in order to... Well, she never liked doing this.

Two handguns clattered to the ground as the men instantly cradled their heads in pain. They clawed at their skulls as it felt like their minds were being stabbed and ripped apart. Their eyes started to bulge out of their sockets as their skin became deathly pale while veins popped out of their foreheads.

It was clear that the two agents were in some sort of immense pain. Though this pain's origin could be pinpointed to the small, skinny girl who still had her hands clawed out in front of her. They slowly started to tumble to the floor as their knees buckled. They fell down onto their sides with sickening thuds.

Suddenly, the girl gasped as both of her arms were grabbed from behind. Whatever mental hold that she had on the two men were let go. Yet from how pale their faces were and how their glassy eyes did not blink, it was safe to assume that they were dead. Despite having now murdered two men, the girl fought against her capture and tried to get away from them. However, now that she was able to see that there were many more identical men in black suits running up to the scene. She wasn't getting away anytime soon. Subject Ten was stuck in Hell.

She turned towards her captures to see a pair of blank faces staring back at her. Subject Ten shivered at their harsh expression. Footsteps were then heard marching up from behind them and she instantly knew who they were. The little girl could never be able to forget that sound. She could easily recognize the click of expensive shoes against the floor and the man who wore them.

Her "father" clicked his tongue in disapproval at the sight in front of him. Two dead employees were certainly going to be a nightmare to deal with. So much paperwork. However, this... incident proves to bring some insight into the capabilities of the little girl who thrashed around in the arms of two other men. Subject Ten seemed to be stronger than they first thought. Despite that, she is still proving to be a nuisance.

His gray eyebrow was pulled together as he looked down at the child. The disappointment he had in his eyes was quite clear to her, though it wasn't like she cared. The man placed his hand on Subject Ten's chin to force the unruly girl to look at him. She tried her best to hide behind her short, shoulder-length hair but his grip on her was too tight. The dull blue eyes that were forced to stare at the older man glared at him with as much heat as a twelve-year-old could muster.

If she was strong enough, Subject Ten would have already turned this man's brain into soup. However, she was too drained, emotionally and physically, to do anything else but glare. Though she tried, she really did try to do _something_ to him. She didn't care what it would do but she focused on his cold eyes and waited for them to glaze over like she had seen a hundred times. Her eyes seemed to swirl like a whirlpool slowly as they focused on the pair of eyes in front of her. She reached out mentally to try and force him to make the agents holding her let go, but she was suddenly dragged into darkness.

A blindfold was forcefully wrapped around her eyes. She screeched and pulled against them even more. Her little legs kicked wildly as they held her frail body in the air. They already knew what she was capable of and they needed to make sure that she didn't cause any more damage than she already has. After all, they now have two dead agents and a half-a-dozen others wounded because of her.

"Take her back to her room," the white-haired man demanded, "I have to check on Subject Eleven."

The hands that had grabbed her arms started to drag her away. She kicked her small legs with as much power as she could and screamed her tiny lung till they started to ache. Though no matter what she did to try and shake off the brutes, there was no way that they were letting up on their grip. It was pointless. She was dragged back into the depths of the decrepit lab that she was forced to call home.

* * *

Sophie gasped loudly and sat up in her small bed. Her blankets were thrown across the room due to her violent wake-up. The teen tried to control her erratic breathing before she started to hyperventilate, but her stomach churned and turned over and over again as anxiety consumed her entire body. It only took a split second for bile to crawl up her throat before she rushed out of her room and into the bathroom.

She made quick work of leaning over the toilet to vomit. The blue-eyed teen heaved and felt like she was puking out her guts. She did her best to try and calm herself down and even though she had just woken up, she was completely drained. Sophie didn't want to take a look at the clock because she was already sure that it was the early hours of the morning. The sun hadn't broken through the horizon yet and greeted the small town of Hawkins, Indiana.

Sweat painted her pasty skin as she ran a shaky hand through her long black hair. She let out a deep sigh and stood back up on shaky legs. The black-haired sixteen-year-old came face to face with the mirror in the bathroom. She scoffed at her pathetic reflection before turning on the sink and splashing some cold water on her clammy face.

Sleep was certainly going to allude her for the rest of the morning, so she didn't see a point in trying to fall back asleep. She turned the faucet off and dried off her face while staring at her reflection one more time. The girl who stared back at her was someone that Sophie wished she wasn't. How pitiful could she really be? Plagued by nightmares just about every night with anxiety and depression, god she was a mess. Though life was certainly better than how it used to be. Yeah, how it used to be. She turned to glance down at the tattoo that rested on her right wrist. Her jaw clenched at the black ink that brought up so many memories for her. _010..._

A sharp shiver suddenly crawled down her spine which caused her to yelp in alarm. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as her head started to throb. It felt like eyes were watching the back of her head which caused her to spin around and see if something was actually there. Though she only found the shower curtain and nobody behind her. Her heart was racing as a cold sweat started to pass over her once again. God, what the hell was that?!

Of course, there was a reason for her sudden discomfort. As she rubbed the back of her neck and wondered what it was, she had no idea that a creature from another dimension was now running amuck in the infamous Hawkin's Lab. The terrifying creature that crawled out of a hole in the wall and killed multiple scientists. However, It's not like she knew that it was happening. She brushed off the feeling and chalked it up to be the aftermath of her nightmares. After all, there really wasn't anything that could cause her to feel like that. She was just paranoid... right?

Disregarding her thoughts, Sophie made her way into the kitchen of the trailer that she had been calling home for the last four years. The teen started to search through some of the cabinets and the fridge for some ingredients that she could use to make breakfast for herself and her guardian. Anything she could do to distract her would be good.

* * *

Sunlight poured through the dusty blinds of Jim Hopper's trailer as the police chief woke up on his couch. The sound of his television bombarded his ears which were starting to give him a headache. The news anchor continued to drone on about power outages as Jim rolled over and looked at his watch which caused him to groan. He grunted and stood up from his couch while grabbing a cigarette from the coffee table.

Jim took a moment to step out onto the deck with the cigarette hanging from his mouth and took in the view for a moment before going back inside. He turned into the kitchen to find the black-haired teenager he had been looking after for a few years now plating some food.

Sophie glanced over at him with a smirk, "rough night?" Jim just grunted in reply and moved to the fridge to grab a beer. "Well, I made you some breakfast if you want it. Who knows if it's edible, but you can give it a try."

Jim just grunted once again. He didn't really mind if what she made was inedible or not, he ate just about anything she made. Whether it was burnt beyond belief, too salty, or overcooked. Sophie wasn't the best chef, but she does what she can for both of them. Seeing as Jim usually isn't awake until she is just about to leave for school, Sophie tries to make him a little something to eat before he has to head to work at the police station.

It was what she thought could be seen as a sign of thankfulness. Seeing as Jim had taken her in a few years ago and let her stay with him, Sophie did what she could to make sure he knew she was grateful for that. Of course, Sophie wasn't the best at that. However, Jim wasn't bothered by her attempts.

As Jim continued to get ready for his day, by taking a showing, brushing his teeth and getting dressed in his uniform, Sophie did the same. She grabbed her school materials and made sure that she had everything that she needed. High school. Oh, how she dreaded going to that horrible place. Ever since she started attending school in Hawkins, she has hated every minute of it.

Jim came back towards the kitchen and grabbed the small plate with burnt scrambled eggs on it and started to eat it quickly. Sophie tugged on her denim jacket, "bet today's going to be just as uneventful as yesterday." She turned to Jim who raised an eyebrow at her, "Doubt you'll have to deal with much trouble."

"Why do I feel like you're going to be the only trouble I'm dealing with today." He drawled out with his fork in his mouth.

Sophie just smirked, "Without me, you wouldn't have a job here in Hawkins."

He sighed with a roll of his eyes. Sophie certainly was one of the biggest troublemakers in Hawkins. If she wasn't at school or at home, she was most likely at the station. Jim has gotten used to her reckless behavior and brushes it off for the most part. After all, she's had a bit of a troubled childhood, so he lets it slide.

"No babysitting last night?"

Sophie hummed and started to drink some milk, "no, Joyce said Jonathan would be home early. No need for me to go over there."

He nodded his head and put on his badge, the last part of his uniform. The two of them tried to make idle chat, though they weren't exactly the best at it. Both Jim and Sophie weren't ones for small talk. Sophie would much rather be left alone while Jim could care less what he did. However, they worked well enough together. At least to the point where they are able to live under the same roof.

Both of them exited the trailer and made their way to their modes of transportation. Jim turned to Sophie and pointed at her, "Don't cause trouble today, you hear me."

Sophie rolled her eyes as she picked up her silver bike and mounted it, "I know. I know." She smiled sarcastically at him, "I'll be a good girl, promise." The teen then took off on her bike while laughing.

"I'm serious!" Jim hollered after her but she only continued to bike away. He sighed in slight annoyance and climbed into his truck to head to work. Neither of them knew what sort of mess the day was going to turn out to be.

* * *

Kids of all ages made their way to their classes for school. The teenagers headed into the High school while those younger than fourteen headed for the middle or elementary school.

Three boys who headed for the middle school were Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, and Lucas Sinclair. They biked along the road before coming up to the front doors of their school. Of course, there was one boy who appeared to be missing from their party, Will Byers. He hadn't ridden his bike with them that morning. Apparently he wasn't at home either that morning. It was slightly concerning but nothing to really freak out over... At least, not yet.

"That's weird," Mike said as he finished chaining up his bike. "I don't see him."

Lucas shook his head, "I'm telling you, his mom's right. He probably just went to class early again."

"Yeah," A curly-haired Dustin agreed, "he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz."

Just as the boys were going to continue walking into the school, a pair of intimidating pre-teens walked up from behind them. "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen." One started while the other smirked, "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show." These were the two bullies who had made it their job to harass all four boys since they had started school together. Troy Welsh, a shaggy-haired brunette, loomed over the trio with his dimwitted backup, James Dante. "Who do you think would make more money in a freak show? Midnight," He punched Lucas in the chest. "Frogface," he punched Mike and moved over to Dustin before doing the same, "or Toothless?"

James placed a hand on his chin like he was contemplating his answer. Though it's not like he had ever done any sort of thinking in his life. He then brightened and pointed at Dustin while imitating said boys lisp. "I'd go with Toothless."

Dustin sighed out in frustration, "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia."

"'I told you a million times.'" James mocked him again which caused the bullies to chuckle.

Troy nodded at Dustin. "Do the arm thing."

As the boy showed hesitancy at doing what they wanted, James sneered at him, "Do it, freak!"

Dustin, although annoyed, complied with the demand and pulled off his jacket to crack his shoulder in a strange way. It cracked which caused the bullies to gasp. "God, it gets me every time."

"Pretty sure I can make your arm make the same sound." A cool voice said from behind the two bullies. They turned to find themselves facing a glaring teenager who appeared to be an inch away from punching both of them. Her eyes were cold and uninviting as they pinned the boys to their spots. Her cold expression caused both Troy and James to freeze up. Sophie glared at the bullies before pushing them past the trio of other boys. "Better head to class, don't want to end up with a broken arm, right?" Seeing the threat in her eyes that she certainly would cash in on, the bullies made their way into the school. They scurried away from the terrifying teenage girl, though it's not like they would admit that they found her to be scary.

"Assholes." Lucas spat out as Sophie came over to stand next to the boys.

Mike shook his head and tried to make light of the comments that their bullies made. "I think it's kinda cool. It's like you have superpowers or something. Like Mr. Fantastic."

"Yeah," Dustin sighed, "except I can't fight evil with it."

Sophie shook her head at the fact that her friends were being harassed by a pair of dicks. "I'm telling you guys, say the word and I'll beat some scenes into those two for you."

Sophie had been friends with the small group of boys for a while now. She first met Will after his mom asked for her to babysit him. Since both Joyce and Jonathan had jobs, she needed someone to look after the youngest Byers. At first, Sophie will admit, she hated the idea of having to look after the boy. She was still getting used to people at the time and didn't think that it was a good idea for her to look after a little kid.

Though over time, she grew to like Will and he eventually introduced her to his other friends. After knowing the boys for a little over two years, Sophie could say that they were her only friends in Hawkins. She knew Jonathan as well, and he was someone that she was okay with having around, yet they only hung out with each other on rare occasions. Though she felt like she was closer with the younger boys than she was with the older Byers.

Due to their close friendship, Sophie always tried to get to the middle school first so they could all hang out for a little bit before heading to their respective classes. Sophie really didn't have anyone else to socialize with. Even if she's been trying to integrate herself into a normal setting, she still is incapable of making friends. It's kind of sad when you think about it, but it's not like Sophie really cared.

Sophie ruffled Mike's black hair which caused the boy to pout. "Don't let those dicks get to you guys."

"As long as we've got our bodyguard around, we'll be fine," Lucas shrugged his shoulders as he referred to Sophie as their 'bodyguard'. Which was true. She stood up from them whenever they were being picked on. She was certainly a very intimidating person. As her reputation proved how much of a troublemaker she was.

"Yeah, yeah," the teen rolled her eyes but she smiled at them, "how'd your campaign go?"

Dustin brightened up at the mention of their favorite game, Dungeons and Dragons. The boys had a campaign that lasted over ten hours that was cut short yesterday. Of course, it was frustrating to be interrupted just as they were in the middle of it, but it wasn't like they could argue with Mrs. Wheeler. "Awesome!" Dustin exclaimed, "Though we had to stop in the middle of it last night just as a demogorgon had appeared and Will just _had_ to roll to attack it even though I told him to just cast protection but-"

Lucas cut the excited boy's rambling off and summed it up, "it was pretty intense."

Sophie nodded her head in understanding and chuckled slightly at the embarrassed expression that passed over Dustin's chubby face. "Sounds like it."

"You should meet us here after school!" Mike exclaimed and changed the subject.

"Why?"

The black-haired boy seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet as his excitement was barely contained. "We've been waiting to get a new radio for the AV Club and I have a feeling that it's here today."

"Really? I've got to see that!" Sophie smiled widely at them and pushed Dustin's infamous red, white, and blue baseball cap further down his face. A shrill bell then broke through the air signaling that school was about to start at the middle school. If that was the case then that meant it was also about to start at the high school.

"Shit." Sophie cursed, "Jim'll kill me if I'm late again!" She exclaimed before climbing back onto her bike and heading towards the high school. "See ya, guys!" The boys all shouted out their farewells after her as she sped off to school.

* * *

Sophie trudged her way through the front doors of the high school. The sea of students who were rushing to their classes or lockers pushed against her as she did her best to navigate to her own locker. Unnoticed by just about everyone, the teen finally was able to get to her locker. She opened it up and started to swap out some books and binders before closing it with a satisfying thud.

She had just made it in on time, however, she needed to try and get to her chemistry class before the bell rang for the final time. The only problem was that her class was on the other end of the school. She'd certainly have to sprint through the halls to make sure that she wasn't tardy for class.

Sophie was jostled around a bit and bumped into a few people who she glared at heatedly. Most of them cowered away from her while others rolled their eyes and moved on. Her classmates knew how much trouble she could cause as well as how scary she was able to be. While some thought it was an act, others were truly terrified of her. Add on the fact that she has had plenty of fights and at least a few suspensions, and you have a few good reasons to not want to mess with Sophie Hopper.

The halls were starting to thin out as students got to their classes right on time. The final bell rang which caused Sophie to mutter out a curse with a roll of her eyes. She had just turned the corner and was on the home stretch to get to her class when she crashed into someone. Instead of just pushing past them like the others, Sophie found herself face first in the person's chest. Arms wrapped around her to keep both herself and the person that she had run into on their feet.

Sophie growled lowly in the back of her throat and glanced up to see who she had run into. She certainly wasn't expecting to see that she had accidentally crashed into the King of Hawkins High himself; Steve "The Hair" Harrington.

Steve stumbled slightly as he made sure that neither he or the person he had barreled into fell over. The person was slightly shorter than him with a curtain of black hair that obscured their face. "Watch it!" Steve exclaimed before letting go of the person quickly.

The two teens now faced each other fully as they adjusted their clothes. Sophie scowled at him harshly as Steve glared at her. While one knew exactly who stood in front of them, the other had no idea who the other was. Steve had never seen this girl before. As the official "King of Hawkins High", he knew just about everyone. He knew who were the other popular kids, who were the band geeks, the mathlete nerds, the jocks, and the outcasts. However, he had no idea who _she_ was.

He would argue that she could be a popular kid, from just her looks. Man if he wasn't already involved with Nancy Wheeler, he may have gone after this mystery girl. Though from the scowl on her face and the seeming burning hatred that she pinned him with, his theory about her being a popular kid like him was thrown out the window.

She seemed to have some sort of annoyance beyond the fact that they had run into each other. The only sort of annoyance that the non-popular kids had for the popular kids. Though she didn't have the look of being a nerd or geek or jocks, so he came to the conclusion that she must be an outcast.

However, he may have just not recognized her because she was _new_ to the school. Ah, a new student, no wonder he had no idea who she was. Shame he hadn't made the greatest first impression.

He composed himself and flashed her a charming smile. One that certainly made every girl in the school swoon. "Sorry about that, I'm-"

"Yeah, whatever," she growled out before pushing past him and started to walk away.

Steve was left speechless as he watched the mysterious girl brushed him off and turned down another hallway. Sophie ignored the teenage boy and made her way to her class. She wouldn't allow _Steve Harrington_ to be the reason why she was officially late to class. She didn't even spare him one final glance before heading off to her class. So she didn't see the lost and confused expression on Steve's face as he watched her go.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I think that was a good start to this story! I think it's kind of obvious how she's tied to Hawkins lab and whatnot, but the question is: How did she end up with Hopper? And also, when did she seemingly escape the lab? Hmmm, guess you'll just have to read and find out.
> 
> Sophie is definitely a fun character to write because she's a tad bit different from the other OCs I've written before. She's harsh, cold, and mean but has a soft side for only certain people as you'll come to find out. I can't wait to continue on with this story! Let me know what you thought of it. Until the next chapter, my lovely readers!


End file.
